How to raise healthy, fit kids? Lead by example

Thanks to Mera Seyffer’s (centre) efforts, her children won’t be among the 26 per cent of children and youth in Canada considered to be overweight or obese.

Photograph by: Simon Wilson
, For Postmedia News

Fitness has always been a family affair for Mera Seyffer.

Growing up, the 36-year-old Hamilton, Ont.-based administrative assistant participated in track and field, baseball and volleyball. In her adult years, her love for fitness continued, and to this day the mother of three children runs marathons and volunteers at the YMCA teaching Aqua Fitness.

But ask Seyffer what her greatest achievement is and it has nothing to do with ribbons or awards — it’s about being a positive role model to her children, Vayla, 17, Calvin, 13, and Xavier, 2.

“It feels amazing,” says Seyffer. “I’m doing my job. I know, if anything, when my children get out there on their own, I’m not going to have to worry about them becoming unhealthy.”

Vayla hits the gym four times a week for yoga, Pilates and core workouts and is considering volunteer fitness instructing alongside Seyffer. Calvin stays active through snowboarding and aqua fit classes, and little Xavier is getting into the action by singing the counting song as he climbs stairs with his mom.

“If (parents) don’t show them how to be healthy, who else do they have?” says Seyffer. “We’re not sit-around people. If it’s nice out on a Saturday afternoon, we’ll play Frisbee, go for a walk or take the baby to the park and everyone runs around. In the winter we still go for walks, we just bundle up. Or we play outside making snow forts.”

Thanks to Seyffer’s efforts, her children won’t be among the 26 per cent of children and youth in Canada considered to be overweight or obese. These obesity rates continue to increase into adulthood. Approximately one-third of normal-weight 20-year-olds will become overweight within eight years; approximately one-third of overweight 20-year-olds will become obese within eight years. If this trend continues, in 20 years Canada can expect 70 per cent of the 35 to 44-year-olds in Canada to be overweight or obese. Currently 57 per cent are overweight or obese.

To avoid this prospect, parents need to get their children active and they have to show by example, experts say.

“It’s often quoted that if a child has one overweight parent, assuming a sedentary lifestyle there’s a 40 per cent chance that child will have similar problems. If the child is raised in a home where both parents are overweight or obese, there’s an 80 per cent chance that child will be overweight or obese,” says Dr. John Philpott, a Toronto pediatrician.

Philpott works at the Healthy Lifestyle Clinic at Toronto’s East General hospital where he helps children ages three to 17 with their weight and lifestyle issues.

He says to reduce the chance of Type 2 diabetes and other obesity-related diseases, children need to be active from the get-go and parents need to establish rules and routines early on to incorporate fitness as part of the family culture.

Philpott says if parents establish some healthy rules early on regarding TV time, activity time and meal time, there’s a 40 per cent reduction in the risk of obesity.

“Why not have ‘silent Sunday’?” says Philpott. “Say between the hours of X and Z, there’s no TV. And during that time, if the weather is not dreadful, they are expected to be out of the house. If kids are outside, they’re not just going to stand there. They’ll organize themselves quite nicely to the surprise of their parents and have some unstructured play.”

Paul Plakas, a personal trainer and fitness expert on the Slice Network’s X-Weighted Families, says parents need to create healthy habits for their children and become positive role models.

Plakas says you don’t have to be a sports fanatic to encourage family fitness. “It doesn’t have to be a sport,” says Plakas. “It just has to be something the child likes that’s physical. It could be as simple as going camping as a family and enjoying the wilderness or getting the kids involved with the local Humane Society’s walking program with the animals. Kids will do it if you’re a good role model and do it with them.”

Remember, he says, there’s strength in numbers. Having a strong support system within the family unit fosters an environment for healthy living.

“It keeps everyone in check,” says Plakas. It’s going to be tough for one person to be lazy if the rest of the family is active. It keeps them going because everyone else is doing it.”

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Paul Plakas’s top 10 ways for parents to get their kids more active

10. Sign up for summer sports camps.

Sports burn lots of calories, are fun, kids do them for long periods of time and they develop their bodies for adulthood.

9. Schedule daily evening family walks.

This will develop a habit they can carry on in the future and it develops family time and cohesiveness

Just spend time with your children and play catch. Also, let the kids pick a physical activity for the family to engage in. This gives them a chance to be involved and lead the family to better health.

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